"Free sports": organizational evolution from participatory activities to Olympic sports

Free sports are the phenomena that have rapidly developed from lifestyle activities to professional competitive sports over the last several decades. Known for distinctive counter-culture values, many popular free sports, such as snowboarding or BMX, have recently become largely commercialized and experienced significant organizational change. The main research question of this study is how free sports have organizationally evolved over time. This thesis focuses on patterns and mechanisms of structural change and evolution of values of these sports. The research utilized a multiple case qualitative methodology and is presented as a cross-case study of three international sports: competitive snowboarding, competitive skateboarding, and sport climbing. A review of existing literature identified the theory of new institutionalism as being particularly relevant to this study and thus, supplemented by resource-dependence theory, this forms the theoretical framework for this research. This study found that as a result of organizational evolution, informal organizational arrangements, which were historically typical for free sports, have not been uniformly replaced by formalized structural arrangements of mainstream sports. In addition, the organizational fields of these free sports are found to have adopted multiple logics, such as commercial, competitive, and traditional free sport logics. The notion of cultural legitimacy of international sport organizations appears to be central to explaining organizational evolution of free sports. As conflicts revolving over the “ownership” of international sports and the practice of “umbrella” governance are found to be of great concern in free sports, it is the relationship between cultural and regulatory legitimacy that these issues are addressed through. Finally, it is found that multiple power/dependence relationships existing in organizational fields of free sports are largely underpinned by commercial interests and strategies of the Olympic movement. In terms of contribution to theoretical knowledge, this study extends previous applications of institutional and resource-dependence theories to free sports and reveals that the process of institutionalization of sports does not necessarily lead to change of values in macro perspective. However, it can facilitate and foster a separation between two different “versions” of the same sports: competitive sports and traditional sports. This study contributes to wider practical sport management knowledge by raising a question of sustainability of culturally legitimate but unconventional international sport organizations in the global sport business. Another implication of this study is challenging the IOC as a source of regulatory legitimacy for sports and questioning the belief that all sports strive for the Olympic Games, which is taken for granted as the ultimate goal of evolution of sports in a global context. This is a major call of this study to both academics and practitioners, as governance of international sports is expected to remain the topic of a great debate in academic literature and popular media

How skateboarding made it to the Olympics: an institutional perspective

Utilizing new institutionalism and resource-dependency theory this paper examines the organisational context within which skateboarding has developed and is continuing to develop. As a radical lifestyle activity, many within the sport of skateboarding have sought to distance themselves from the institutionalized competitive structure exemplified by the modern Olympic Games, despite a steady growth in competitive skateboarding within increasingly formal structures. The aim of this paper is to explore how the sport has operationally evolved and how, as a major youth sport, Olympic inclusion has impacted on its organisational arrangements. Data were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews and supplemented by selected secondary sources including social media analysis, sport regulations and policy statements. The conclusions of the research are: 1) unlike many other sports, skateboarding has always functioned as a network which includes event organizers, media companies, and equipment producers, with governing bodies playing a more peripheral role; 2) there was a strong lobby from elite skateboarders in support of inclusion in the Olympics although only on skateboarders terms; 3) interest from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which eventually led to the inclusion of skateboarding in the 2020 Olympic Games, has affected the organisational evolution of skateboarding over the last decade and has stressed issues of organisational legitimacy in this sport

How skateboarding made it to the Olympics: an institutional perspective

Utilizing new institutionalism and resource-dependency theory this paper examines the organisational context within which skateboarding has developed and is continuing to develop. As a radical lifestyle activity, many within the sport of skateboarding have sought to distance themselves from the institutionalized competitive structure exemplified by the modern Olympic Games, despite a steady growth in competitive skateboarding within increasingly formal structures. The aim of this paper is to explore how the sport has operationally evolved and how, as a major youth sport, Olympic inclusion has impacted on its organisational arrangements. Data were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews and supplemented by selected secondary sources including social media analysis, sport regulations and policy statements. The conclusions of the research are: 1) unlike many other sports, skateboarding has always functioned as a network which includes event organizers, media companies, and equipment producers, with governing bodies playing a more peripheral role; 2) there was a strong lobby from elite skateboarders in support of inclusion in the Olympics although only on skateboarders terms; 3) interest from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which eventually led to the inclusion of skateboarding in the 2020 Olympic Games, has affected the organisational evolution of skateboarding over the last decade and has stressed issues of organisational legitimacy in this sport

Using Collaborative Robots As A Tool For Easier Programming Of Industrial Robots

Programming industrial robots using traditional jogging via teach pendant is a time-consuming task that requires extensive training. More intuitive and faster task programming is often possible using kinesthetic teaching. Although this feature is available on many commercial collaborative robots, it is rarely available on traditional industrial robots. In this paper we propose a framework for allowing tasks to be instructed using a collaborative robot via kinesthetic teaching, and afterwards deployed to a traditional industrial robot. The frame- work consists of a physical modular concept for robot exchange, and a online programming software tool called Universal Industrial Interface. To assess the framework, a feasibility study is conducted where an industrial relevant task is  rst programmed using a collaborative manipulator, and afterwards deployed on an industrial manipulator

Особенности промерзания болот при климатических изменениях на севере и северо-западе Европейской территории России

Long-term complex observations covering the period of 1949–2018 made possible to determine the average annual characteristics of the depth of freezing of wetlands in the North and Northwest of the European territory of Russia together with main factors of its formation, and spatial and temporal variability. The main factors that determine the depth of freezing of wetlands are ambient temperature, snow cover thickness, and a degree of watering of the micro landscape (water reserves of the micro landscape). At the initial stage of freezing, the major factor is the ambient temperature, when intensity of the freezing reaches 0.5–0.8 cm/day. As snow falls, the freezing rate becomes smaller, and when the snow cover thickness reaches 25–30 cm the depth amounts to 0.2–0.3 cm/day and smaller. It was found that the spatial variability of the freezing depth decreases from large values of the coefficient of variation (0.3–0.4) at the depth of 20–30 cm to less than 0.1 when the depth exceeds 60 cm. The largest values of the depth are recorded in the North of the Kola Peninsula, where sometimes they reach from 84 to 97 cm with the average values of 48–66. In large hummocky bogs, when the seasonal freezing comes down to 63–65 cm it links with the permafrost layer. On average, swamps of these bogs freeze down to a depth of 68 cm. The average climatic depth of freezing of oligotrophic bogs of the NorthWest is 21–24 cm; in some years, freezing of them reaches 32–40 cm. It has been shown that the relative warming of the climate resulted in decreasing in the depth of freezing of wetlands in the North and North-West of the European territory of Russia. Relative to the previous climatic period, the depth of frost penetration in the northern Ilasskoye bog decreased by 32%, and in north-western Lammin-Suo bog – by 31%.Приведены данные об основных факторах, определяющих глубину промерзания болот: температуре воздуха, толщине снежного покрова и степени увлажнения микроландшафта. Относительное потепление климата привело к уменьшению глубины промерзания болот рассмотренной территории на 31–32% по отношению к предшествующему климатическому периоду.

NMR screening of potential inhibitors of methionine γ-lyase from Citrobacter freundii

© 2014, Pleiades Publishing, Inc. Methionine γ-lyase [EC 4.4.1.11] participates in methionine catabolism in a number of bacteria and protozoa eukaryotes, including pathogenic microorganisms. The lack of this enzyme in mammals allows us consider it to be a promising target for rational antibacterial drug design. Currently, in medical practice, there are no preparations based on the inhibition of methionine γ-lyase. We present the results of a search for potential inhibitors of this enzyme using NMR screening techniques based on the identification of compounds, which are able to bind specifically to their biological target. The study included a stage of in silico virtual screening of the library of commercially available compounds and subsequent experimental selection of the leading compounds capable to interact with the enzyme. The identification of binding was carried out using saturation transfer difference (STD) spectroscopy and the WaterLOGSY technique. During the final stage, an experimental assessment of the inhibition activity of the selected compounds in the reaction of the γ elimination of L-methionine catalyzed by methionine γ-lyase was performed. Binding constants of two leading compounds were determined using the WaterLOGSY method. This study expands the structural group of potential inhibitors of methionine γ-lyase and allows us to approach the design of its inhibitors with higher efficacy

Synthesis of 2-((3-(ethoxycarbonyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)amino)-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-oxobut-2-enoate

Will be discussed synthesis of 2-((3-(ethoxycarbonyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)amino)-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-oxobut-2-enoate.The work was supported by an RFBR grant 19-43-590023

Synthesis of 2-((3-(ethoxycarbonyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo [b] thiophen-2-yl)amino)-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-oxobut-2-enoate

2-((3-(Ethoxycarbonyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)amino)-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-oxobut-2-enoate has been synthesized by the reaction of ethyl (E)-2-((5-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-oxofuran-3(2H)-ylidene)amino)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophene-3-carboxylate or 2-((3-(ethoxycarbonyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)amino)-4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-oxobut-2-enoate with potassium tert-butoxide. © 2022 Author(s).The work was done with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 19-43-590023)

Organizational evolution and the Olympic Games: the case of sport climbing

This paper discusses the processes underpinning the evolutionary development of sport climbing in recent decades, with a particular focus on the impact of its inclusion in the Olympic Games. New institutionalism and resource-dependence theory provide an analytical and explanatory framework for this study. The research adopted a qualitative method strategy comprising a series of interviews and the analysis of documents, reports, press and social media. The recent inclusion of the sport in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic programme has created challenges, primarily because of strong values inherent within the sport. The research, however, shows that the values of a sport can expand and develop in order to fit the regulatory legitimacy required by inclusion in the Olympic Games. Nonetheless, the research also shows that involvement with the IOC raises questions about who ‘owns’ the sport

Geochemistry of vent fluid particles formed during initial hydrothermal fluid–seawater mixing along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

We present geochemical data of black smoker particulates filtered from hydrothermal fluids with seawater-dilutions ranging from 0–99%. Results indicate the dominance of sulphide minerals (Fe, Cu, and Zn sulphides) in all samples taken at different hydrothermal sites on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Pronounced differences in the geochemistry of the particles between Logatchev I and 5°S hydrothermal fields could be attributed to differences in fluid chemistry. Lower metal/sulphur ratios (Me/H2S < 1) compared to Logatchev I result in a larger amount of particles precipitated per liter fluid and the occurrence of elemental sulphur at 5°S, while at Logatchev I Fe oxides occur in larger amounts. Systematic trends with dilution degree of the fluid include the precipitation of large amounts of Cu sulphides at a low dilution and a pronounced drop with increasing dilution. Moreover, Fe (sulphides or oxides) precipitation increases with dilution of the vent fluid by seawater. Geochemical reaction path modeling of hydrothermal fluid–seawater mixing and conductive cooling indicates that Cu sulphide formation at Logatchev I and 5°S mainly occurs at high temperatures and low dilution of the hydrothermal fluid by seawater. Iron precipitation is enhanced at higher fluid dilution, and the different amounts of minerals forming at 5°S and Logatchev I are thermodynamically controlled. Larger total amounts of minerals and larger amounts of sulphide precipitate during the mixing path when compared to the cooling path. Differences between model and field observations do occur and are attributable to closed system modeling, to kinetic influences and possibly to organic constituents of the hydrothermal fluids not accounted for by the model